sweet dreams | open

by no stretch of the imagination was maplepaw an astounding apprentice. her tracking skills were subpar, and her ability to successfully scent out prey in the area was even worse. by any standards, the calico was no better than a new-born kit. generally speaking, she was able to notice when her clanmates were near, as she had spent the entirety of her life becoming familiar with the scent of her own clan. the fact that she had not taken any notice to the tom seated outside the apprentice den was simply another nail in her coffin.

maybe if she had been more aware of her surroundings, she would’ve taken notice, given a nod and then went on her way. fate would have it, however, that she wold be roped into a conversation for which she had no means of getting out of. it wasn’t that she didn’t like frostpaw, it was simply that he was a new apprentice, like herself, but the fact remained that he was older than her. he was still in the nursery when she had become an apprentice, despite the fact that he had been born a full two moons before she had. maybe it was a pity thing, the fact that his brother was mangled, and left blind due to their reckless and irresponsible behaviour. maybe she was simply intimidated by the fact that him and thistlepaw were brave enough to leave the camp before their sixth moon.

regardless of the reason, maplepaw stiffened at the sound of his voice, and squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to disappear. a couple apprentices had been talking about how if you wish hard enough with your eyes closed, it would come true. maplepaw desperately wanted them to be right. a moment, she sat like that, believing that it had worked, when he spoke once more, this time instigating a conversation, with a question no less! ignoring the tom’s inquiry would be rude, and even she wasn’t dumb enough to pretend she had somewhere to be. half the warriors were still asleep soundly in their nests, and maplepaw had no doubts that loonfrost was among them. so she was left with one option.

“good morning, frostpaw.” her voice squeaked out, betraying her discomfort with the situation. it was a peculiar predicament for the she-cat; she never had any issues speaking with the male apprentices. the apprentice hardly had any issues speaking at all, but there was something about frostpaw that she didn’t quite get. how was he so happy when tragedy had struck his brother? she studied him for a moment as he lowered himself to the ground, and then forced a smile. “oh well, I, uh,” maplepaw laughed nervously, grossly unaware of the fact that her paws were shuffling upon the ground. “I was going to say hi to my mom and dad, and then maybe, uhm, go see the new kits in the nursery.” maplepaw didn’t really have an intention of doing those things, but it sounded better than saying she was going to wallow in self-pity. “what about you, frostpaw? did you, uhm, sleep alright?"

she wasn’t very good at reading emotions, something that would come as she got older and began interacting more. however, at that moment, maplepaw felt as if she were feeling all the emotions that frostpaw was. the real reason was more than likely that their emotions were so similar, that the torbie she-kit was able to pick up on them. he seemed stiff to her, uncomfortable with the conversation. maybe he was regretting his choice of speaking to her; he could’ve easily just ignored her like most of the other apprentices did and then there wouldn’t be need for a painfully awkward encounter.

“that’s good, I’m glad.” her response was more level than she felt, having gotten over the initial shock of frostpaw approaching her. she was happy that he slept okay, even if she hadn’t. maplepaw’s tail lashed behind her as he looked away from her, and she almost breathed a sigh of relief. he was going to leave and then this whole conversation could be forgotten and neither of them would ever have to speak to one another again. but luck wasn’t on her side this morning. his body gave a shiver, and then he flasged a smile at her. oh no.

maplepaw wanted to disappear, have the earth open up beneath her and swallow her whole. she wasn’t a liar, she couldn’t lie her way through this to get the conversation to be over. as soon as she said she was fine, he would pick up on it, just like her mother did. but how does one go about telling a cat who is no more than an acquaintance, that she is ashamed that she is sad that her sister is dead? most cats would’ve been able to move on by now. she had passed away almost an entire moon ago, and she was still upset about it. frostpaw’s brother was permanently disabled and he looked no worse for ware. so she responded the only way she knew how.

“I’m just tired. it’s…” she paused, averting her gaze so that he couldn’t see the tears welling up on her lower lids. her yellow eyes burned with the effort of trying to keep the tears under control, and she took a deep breath in. “it’s been a long moon, that’s all.” the words tumbled out in a heavy sigh, that expelled all the air from her adolescent lungs and she looked back up with him, with a smile on her face, though the smile failed to reach her eyes. “have you had any training yet? loonfrost and I did a tour of the territory, and I didn’t realize how wet it was. I guess it’s called riverclan for a reason, hey?” she forced a laugh, and the tip of her tail flicked spastically.

it was an unexpected gesture, the tip of the toms nose touching her shoulder, and it made her freeze. lilykit used to do that to her when she was upset and it always helped. despite the fact that they weren't friends, frostpaw's gesture warmed her. it was such an innocent act, one done out of the kindness of his heart, and she looked at him and smiled warmly, sincere, for the first time since they began talking. maplepaw smirked at his comment about the elders den; she could relate. the elders were fun to be around, their stories always enthralled her, but cleaning out the den wasn't exactly the most glamorous part of being an apprentice.

"yeah, I don't like cleaning out the elders den, expecially after nettleheart has been in there with the mouse bile. that smell never leaves your nose!" this time when maplepaw giggled, it wasn't forced. the initial tension that was between the two of them had apparently evaporated with frostpaw's gesture. who would have thought that maplepaw and frostpaw would get along? definitely not the she-cat, but there were worse cats to get along with.

"that would be really fun, actually! we could have a contest!" the toms proposition flicked a switch in maplepaw. her gloomy disposition changed drastically as a huge smile spread across her face, and her eyes lit up. the she-kit had thought that the tom had come over just as a courtesy, seeing as they were the only two apprentices who were actually awake, but his suggestion meant differently. could it be possible that he wanted to be her friend? no one ever wanted to be her friend! her tail flicked behind her excitedly. if she had a friend, she would no longer have to eat alone, or grieve alone. it didn't matter that frostpaw was older than her, they were still both apprentices and in the same place. maplepaw's morning had turned around considerably.

despite herself, maplepaw found herself forgetting about her woes. in only a few short moments, frostpaw had taken the time to talk with her, and bring her out of her slump. she knew that it wouldn’t last – it never did – but for right now, she wasn’t going to think about that. a sly smile crept across her dark calico features, making her eyes dance with excitement. he was flattering her, of course, as there was no real merit behind his words. anyone who knew maplepaw knew that she wasn’t the best apprentice out of the bunch. she fell disastrously below average.

“no way! you would kick my tail! you have oakclaw as a mentor!” and she wholly believed it as well. she was in awe of oakclaw and his impressive stature, something that she had no hopes of achieving. no, she was bound to be small forever and at peace with the fact. then she realized what she had said. “not that loonfrost isn’t a great mentor! I uh, didn’t mean it like that. . . ” her voice trailed off as embarrassment washed through her body, making her paws shuffle across the floor of the camp. what would happen if frostpaw told oakclaw what she had said about loonfrost? what if loonfrost didn’t want to be her mentor anymore? the thought was painful.

maplepaw narrowed her eyes at frostpaw in light of his suggestion. leaving the camp without their mentors? it was insane! not to mention that frostpaw wasn’t allowed out of camp; they would both be cuffed so hard over the ears that they’d go deaf! maplepaw shrank in on herself a bit and cast her eyes down.

“I don’t know . . . it sounds pretty dangerous.” the she-kit spoke to her paws, not daring to reveal the fear in her eyes to the white and grey tom. just the thought of being in the territory without loonfrost made her heart pound. “wh-what happens if you get caught?” she blurted out, trying to change the stride of the conversation. he really didn’t want to think her a coward for not wanting to hunt independently.